Welding systems include inductance either in the form of parasitic inductance due to, e.g., inductance found in welding leads and other components or in the form of intentionally added inductors as energy-storage devices. Regardless of the form, inductance resists changes in the current. In conventional “steady-state” welding processes, inductance in a welding system was desirable as it helped stabilize the process. However, many modern welding processes such as AC-TIG and rapid-arc MIG welding requires fast changes in the welding current, but the inductance in the welding systems resists these changes. That is, whenever the current must transition from a high level to a low level quickly, inductance in the circuit can retard the change. When transitioning from a low current to a high current, any undesirable inductance can be overcome by increasing the voltage to drive the current faster. However, the transitions from high current to low current cannot be similarly forced. Even if the power source is turned off, the current freewheels through the system due to the inductance. Accordingly, becomes a controlling factor in AC TIG, rapid arc pulsed GMAW, pulsed TIG, and other systems.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional, traditional, and proposed approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such approaches with embodiments of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.